People whooped, hollered, cheered and whistled at the curvaceous body dancing alone on a table to loud hip-hop music. Fingers ran through her golden blonde hair, pushing the strands back, hiding her part. She closed her eyes as she felt the music run through her body, just like the alcohol in her veins. The yells of admiration coming from the circle of both guys and girls dancing in their places around the dark wooden table gazing up at Jen caused a smile to grow on her face. This was the Jen she loved. This was the Jen she wished she could always be. Her drunken confidence flowed from her just as the sound waves flowed from the blasting, vibrating speakers. She didn't stop dancing or flaunting her good looks, her hips moving in slow, accentuated circles, her hands groping the curves of her own body.

"Ow ow!" They whooped, chugging down liquid from glass bottles or plastic cups.

"Why don't you come down here and show me some of that sugar!" Another yelled.

Jen was sweating lightly; pieces of her hair began to stick to the back of her neck. But it was like she didn't even feel it. Her energy was unflagging, her confidence the same. She could see herself up there on that table. With her eyes closed she pictured the way her body was moving, watching herself more then the admiring people that surrounded her.

That's why she didn't see them join her on the table. What opened her eyes was the feeling of two bodies suddenly pressed up against hers, melting into her movements. A sideways smile formed on her lips, and she raised both of her eyebrows at Preston, who was dancing with her front half, and then she turned and made the same face at Jamal, who was taking pleasure in dancing with her backside.

"You look so hot," Jamal whispered huskily into her ear then pressed his soft lips lightly against her neck, "We just couldn't watch you anymore; we had to touch you too."

Preston nodded in agreement, running his hands up and down her thighs. "The man is right. The site of you is such a tease, but the feel of you makes it all worth while."

All she did was laugh and smile, then closed her eyes, continuing to dance, but this time making sure to push herself against each of the guys in a very sexual, stimulating fashion. The sight of these two boys dancing with Jen caused the masses surrounding the table to whoop even louder. It seemed that they actually got off on that kind of thing.

Grinding with Preston and Jamal, Jen felt free and energetic. Up there, she knew she was loved. She knew she mattered and was paid attention to. But at the same exact time, she didn't know that at all. When she was drunk she was in her own world, and even though that world was full of other people, ultimately, it belonged to her, and she controlled everything in it. Sometimes though, she thought that the world itself controlled her. The circle, the people, they cast her in the role of a sexy, confident bombshell whom no one could phase, and sometimes she felt restricted in that role, sometimes she felt that even though this was the girl she loved, that maybe she wanted to be different for once. That wasn't possible though. When the alcohol overtook her, there was only one girl she became; she became the girl dancing up there on that table, the center of attention, the most desired one of them all. It was something she couldn't control. Jen barely knew herself when the alcohol raced through her veins.

Preston and Jamal caught each other's eyes over Jen's shoulder as the three continued to grind to the heavy beat. Without speaking, they planned what they were going to do next, and agreed to share.

"Okay then..." Preston took her hand as Jamal jumped off the table. Some people made disappointed noises at the ceasing of their dancing.

Jen grinned at both boys as the three made their way up the winding, black iron staircase. "I get two at once?" She joked.

They nodded. "If that's okay with you, of course." Jamal said, pushing open the door to a large, dark bedroom.

She laughed and looked around at the king size bed that was blanketed in a deep red comforter. In the darkness the color seemed deeper than it actually was. "It's more than okay." Jen looked between the two. "They always say that two is better then one...now I'll get to find out if it's true."

Jamal and Preston exchanged smirks. Jamal was the first to make a move, coming up behind Jen and sliding his arm around her stomach, his dark eyes staring into her hazel ones while taking a few steps until he was standing directly in front of her. Preston watched anxiously as Jamal took Jen's head in his hands, leaning into her. With a great force, he pressed his mouth against hers, locking her in a selfish kiss. Jen's body automatically responded to the kiss, stepping closer to Jamal until their stomachs' were touching.

Preston licked his lips, and then proceeded to make his way behind Jen, placing his hands on her hips before leaning down to suck on a soft portion of the skin on her neck. All the while, she and Jamal still kissed furiously. Preston's hands found their way to the zipper of her dress, and with a fast motion and buzz of the zipper unzipping, a new portion of skin was exposed to the boy. As Jamal and Jen broke from the kiss, her hands began to roam over his defined chest muscles, and his pushed the straps of her dress off of her shoulders and down her arms until the dress fell softly to the floor.

At this point, Preston turned Jen around and kissed her himself, while Jamal now kissed her neck, his hands caressed the smooth skin of her back and mid-section. But Jen began to feel weak, which was evident in the way her fervent kissing began to slow. Her body suddenly felt heavy, so heavy that she didn't even feel like she could hold herself up.

"I want to lay down..." She whispered weakly, her eyes still shut. The guys didn't take it as a sign of weakness, but rather as an invitation to more.

"Then you will." Preston picked her up by the waist softly, turned her around in a ballet like motion and set her gently onto the bed.

Her eyes blinked slowly as she tried to keep them open. Jamal was on top of her now, kissing her lips, neck, shoulders and chest. Jen could feel herself slipping, losing herself, and was powerless against it. She tried with all her might to keep her eyes open, to kiss him back, but the alcohol overtook her, and her eyelids slid shut.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drue looked back into the room he had just been in. Laura sat on the bed, redressing. A smirk grew on his face and she looked up and smiled at him. Drue then looked away, zipped his fly, and started towards the metal staircase with a slight bounce in his step that hadn't been there when he first entered the party. Something caught his eye though, and he stopped where he was, peering into the large bedroom through the open crack of the door. Curiosity overtook him, his eyebrows furrowing on his forehead, and he stepped closer to get a better view. At first Drue saw only two guys, and just as he was about to turn around out of pure horror, the girl's body came into view. He squinted now, and inched even closer to the door. She moved only slightly, probably on the verge of passing out. His mouth dropped as more of the girl came into sight; he immediately recognized the body. A surge of anger over took him, and he barged into the room, the knob of the wooden door banging violently and loudly against the wall.

The half-dressed boys jumped and turned around at the interruption. Drue glanced at the blinking figure on the bed, and then looked back to the two guys. "What the hell are you doing?" His tone was harsh and accusing.

"Who the hell are you to be asking, her boyfriend?"

"Try her best friend." He stormed past the two and towards the bed.

"Don't touch her." Preston ordered.

"Why?" Drue spun around, his eyes tightened. "So you two can proceed to have sex with her while she's passed out? In most states that would actually be considered rape."

"Oh what do you know, kid?" Jamal rolled his eyes.

"Obviously a hell of a lot more than you." Drue picked up Jen's dress off of the floor. "Now get the hell out of here. I'm sure there are other girls for you to take advantage of."

"Two against one, right..." He paused. "Is it always that way? Is it always the two of you against some guy, or the two of you against some poor, weak and passed out girl who doesn't know what the hell she's doing? Tell me what pleasure you get from that. What pleasure do you get from kissing somebody who can't even kiss you back?" He sat on the bed next to a now passed out Jen, lifting her up into a sitting position so he could put her dress back on her.

The two boys stood there dumbfounded for a moment, picked up their clothing, and then quickly ran from the room.

Drue sighed as he zipped up Jen's dress and pushed some of her hair away from her face. "Why do you have to do this?" He whispered to her, lifting her sandals from the floor and sliding them on her feet. "Why are you so weak? I don't understand you, Jenny," Drue picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms like a baby, "you've got so much going for you, so much inside that heart, soul, and mind of yours, yet you reduce yourself to this." He walked out of the room and down the stairs, propping her up in his arms every so often. "I guess we're all like you though..." He plucked her leather jacket off of a chair and proceeded towards the door of the loft, "we all need to escape from the negligence of our parents, and feel that the only way to do that is through drugs and sex and all of this other stuff." Drue stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the lobby. "But you're too innocent for that, Jen," He rethought his words, "Well maybe not too innocent but you're definitely too beautiful." The elevator came to a stop at the bottom floor, and he boosted her up in his arms as he left the building and began to walk down the city street. "Too beautiful and too fragile, too gentle, too damn weak for this shit. You're worth so much more than this life. I don't know why you subject yourself to it. Why I let you subject yourself to it." Drue let out another sigh as he crossed a quiet street. "But who am I to tell you what to do? Only your under appreciated friend who cares way too much. With the way you treat me one would think I would have given up on you by now, but I can't. Only God knows why I can't. What is it about you, Lindley?" He glanced down at her face, her eyes shut, and her hair falling softly over his lower arm. Her chest rose and fell softly as she breathed. "What is it about you that keeps me awake at night? What is it about you that gives me butterflies? And what the hell is it about you that makes me care so much?" Drue pushed a piece of his hair away from his face and proceeded past the doorman of his building who leaned against the wall, snoozing lightly. "Why do you have to be so insecure? I don't get it. You shouldn't be. You should see in yourself what I see in you. You should realize just how much you have to offer the world," The elevator door opened and he stepped in and pressed the number four. "And you should wake up and realize I'm not going to be here forever. One day I'll just get tired of it, one day I'll just stop caring." He reached into his jean pocket, picking out a brass key from her jacket pocket as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out into the small foyer. "And when that day comes I can guarantee that you'll miss it." A breath of air escaped his throat as Drue pushed the door open with his side and placed the key back in the pocket. Using his foot, he shut the door softly behind him. "What am I talking about?" He rolled his eyes and proceeded towards the grand staircase. "I'll never stop caring about you. It doesn't seem to be possible. You'll always weaken me. You'll always have me wrapped around your finger. You won't know it though; you don't even know it now. And maybe it's good that you don't know it, because this way you can't take advantage of your power. Not that you would intentionally, but it would probably happen." Drue pushed Jen's bedroom door open with his back, laid her down on her full sized bed softly and then went over to a chest of drawers positioned in the corner of the room, pulling out some sweatpants and a T-shirt. "Sometimes I think you do appreciate me though. Like today, on the phone." He sat down next to her and slipped her sandals off of her feet, "For a second there I thought you were going to say something serious. Maybe even thank me or something. It was wishful thinking though, of course." Sitting her up again, he pulled the big T-shirt over her head and then reached his hands to her back, unzipping the dress and sliding the straps off of her arms. "You're a real trip, you know that? You get everyone going; you make everyone excited and crazy...and then when you lose your spunk, so does everyone else...except those damn jerks earlier tonight." Drue then lifted her off of the bed slightly in order to remove the dress and slide the soft sweatpants onto her legs. He zipped up the dress once it was off of her and headed over to her closet. "I couldn't believe them, trying to take advantage of you while you were practically passed out. What the hell would they have gotten from that?" He took an empty hanger from the closet and placed the dress onto it, then hung the dress-clad hanger on the top rod of the closet. "Because I certainly would not have gotten any enjoyment from making out with a half asleep girl. The world is full of sick and crazy people, Lindley," Drue walked back over to her bed and lifted her legs up, pulling her comforters over her as he set her legs back down, "and you have to be careful. You're a good looking girl you know, and bad things seem to happen to good looking girls...." Drue stopped speaking suddenly as he gazed down at Jen. She inhaled and exhaled softly, and Drue was suddenly enthralled with the sound of her breathing. He looked behind him at a chair in the corner of the room, and decided to sit down, still staring and Jen. A deep, long sigh escaped his mouth, and he rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, his cheek in his palm. "Can you tell me just one thing, Jen?" He whispered to the sleeping beauty. "Can you tell me why you can't be strong?"